A sunny, April Sunday afternoon in Pueblo was celebrated as an “Afternoon in Africa”featuring an update from Mr Isaac Lema, UCE Africa Director about the thriving UCE Africa programs. He shared stories of the growth and expansion of UCE within the countries it operates: Uganda, Tanzania, and Burundi.
Additionally Ken and Kim Dernovsek, UCE co-founders and I (Sarah Smith, USA Director) shared highlights, stories, and pictures from our mission trip to UCE-Burundi in February. We received a warm welcome and hospitality from the UCE-Burundi team. I shared about how when participating in a mission trip while doing a program evaluation, she likes to determine 1) if there is a need and 2) if the program actually reaches the people it intends to reach. She shared a story of how, during a UCE outreach fo an advanced high school, a boy stood up and asked, “Why is the Burundi Ministry of Health teaching students to use condoms? Is the Burundi government lying?” The UCE team simply responded that they are not teaching the complete truth and proceeded to state that 1) abstinence is the best method for students and that 2)yes, abstinence is possible! I observed that if UCE had not been there teaching, it is unlikely the students would have heard this important chastity message! Special personal moments were honoring previous UCE team members who had life circumstances preventing them from continuing their involvement with UCE. The devotion to UCE of Rev Charles and Mrs. Claire will not be forgotten. In addition to it’s people, a joy of Burundi is it’s music and drums. If you did not yet have an opportunity to look at a fantastic pictorial summary of our Feb 2019 UCE Burundi mission trip (a short 4 minute video), enjoy it here!